Conflict and Development: A Case Study of East Pakistan Crisis, 1971
- September 5, 2018
- Posted by: RSIS
- Category: Social Science
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume II, Issue VIII, August 2018 | ISSN 2454–6186
Conflict and Development: A Case Study of East Pakistan Crisis, 1971
Masood ur Rehman Azhar1, Saima Masood2, Dr. Nor Malina Malek3, Khaliq ul Rehman4
1School of Social Sciences, UniversitiSains Malaysia
1, 2COMSATS University Islamabad Wah Campus, Pakistan
3Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, UniversitiSains Malaysia
4Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
Abstract: This essay supports the theoretical approaches of conflict and development and reveals that unequal development and resources scarcity deepens the poverty and creates conflicts in the society. Resource scarcity and unequal distribution of available resource create new marginalization and grievances. The marginalized, deprived, and excluded people struggle for their rights through non-peaceful means. This case study presents a theoretical analysis of an International conflict, i.e., East Pakistan Crisis, 1971, and reveals that political, economic and social inequalities create an understanding of deprivation among the masses causing large-scale violence and conflict in society.
Keywords: Poverty and development, poverty and conflict, conflict and development, resource scarcity and conflict, unequal development, East Pakistan Crisis, Bangladesh.
Development is a complex phenomenon. It creates conflicts when unequal development happens in the society. Marginalized and excluded people try to get their rights through non-peaceful tactics. Resource scarcity can also be a source of conflict in the society (Homer-Dixon, 1994). This essay supports the theoretical approaches of conflict and development and reveals that unequal development and resources scarcity creates conflicts in the society. It is a case study of the East Pakistan crisis, 1971. It was an internal civil conflict which became international when an external power intervened to help the armed opposition (Desai & Potter, 2008). As a consequence of this conflict, East Pakistan was dismembered and became Bangladesh.
